Resource abstraction via enabler and metadata

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for managing an enabler and dependencies of the enabler. According to one embodiment, a method of managing an enabler can comprise requesting a management function via a management interface of the enabler. The management interface can provide an abstraction of one or more management functions for managing the enabler and/or dependencies of the enabler. In some cases, prior to requesting the management function metadata associated with the management interface can be read and a determination can be made as to whether the management function is available or unavailable. Requesting the management function via the management interface of the enabler can be performed in response to determining the management function is available. In response to determining the management function is unavailable, one or more alternative functions can be identified based on the metadata and the one or more Falternative functions can be requested.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/075,823, filed Jun. 26, 2008 by Maes and entitled “Resource Abstraction Via Enabler and Metadata,” of which the entire disclosure is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

This application is also related to the following commonly-owned, co-pending applications (the “Related Applications”), of which the entire disclosure of each is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/855,999, filed May 28, 2004 by Maes and entitled “Method and Apparatus for Supporting Service Enablers Via Service Request Handholding”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/130,636, filed May 16, 2005, by Maes and entitled “Methods and Systems for Exposing Access Network Capabilities Using an Enabler Proxy”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/070,317, filed Mar. 1, 2005, by Maes and entitled “Policy Interface Description Framework”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/357,653, filed Feb. 16, 2006, by Maes and entitled “Factorization of Concerns to Build a SDP (Service Delivery Platform)”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/019,335, filed Jan. 24, 2008, by Maes and entitled “Integrating Operational and Business Support Systems with a Service Delivery Platform”; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. 021756-049900US), filed ______, by Maes and entitled “Metadata Describing Dependencies for Composable Elements”.

This application is also related to commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,209,734, filed Jun. 30, 2004 by Maes and entitled “Virtual Mobile Service Provider”, of which the entire disclosure is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for managing an enabler and dependencies of the enabler. According to one embodiment, a method of managing an enabler can comprise requesting a management function via a management interface of the enabler. The management interface can provide an abstraction of one or more management functions for managing the enabler and/or dependencies of the enabler. For example, the management function can consist of a function for provisioning of the enabler, a function for activation of the enabler, a function for state monitoring of the enabler, a function for usage monitoring of the enabler, a function for health monitoring of the enabler, a function for updating of the enabler, a function for de-activation of the enabler, or another function. The metadata can be defined consistent with an interface definition for the management interface and may be stored in a metadata repository, for example, maintained by a supporting enabler.

In some cases, prior to requesting the management function metadata associated with the management interface can be read and a determination can be made as to whether the management function is available or unavailable. Requesting the management function via the management interface of the enabler can be performed in response to determining the management function is available. In response to determining the management function is unavailable, one or more alternative functions can be identified based on the metadata and the one or more alternative functions can be requested. In some cases, prior to requesting the management function, a determination can be made based on the metadata as to whether an alternative function is available for one or more dependencies of the enabler. In response to determining an alternative function is available for at least one dependency the alternative function can be requested.

Additionally or alternatively, in response to requesting the management function, an error can be received via the management interface indicating the management function cannot be performed by the enabler. In such cases, metadata associated with the enabler can be read and an alternative function can be selected based on the metadata. The alternative function can then be requested. For example, the alternative functions can consist of calls to a management interface of another enabler, calls to a functional interface of another enabler, a workflow, other processes, etc.

According to another embodiment, an enabler can comprise a management interface providing an abstraction of one or more management functions for managing the enabler or dependencies of the enabler. Metadata can be associated with the management interface. The metadata can be defined consistent with an interface definition for the management interface and can identify one or more alternative functions for at least one of the one or more functions. For example, the management function any one or more of a function for provisioning of the enabler, a function for activation of the enabler, a function for state monitoring of the enabler, a function for usage monitoring of the enabler, a function for health monitoring of the enabler, a function for updating of the enabler, a function for de-activation of the enabler, etc. The one or more alternative functions can be any one or more of calls to a management interface of another enabler, calls to a functional interface of another enabler, a workflow, etc. In some cases, the metadata may be stored in a metadata repository that can be maintained by a supporting enabler.

According to yet another embodiment, a system can comprise an enabler comprising a management interface providing an abstraction of one or more management function for managing the enabler or dependencies of the enabler. For example, the management function can consist of a function for provisioning of the enabler, a function for activation of the enabler, a function for state monitoring of the enabler, a function for usage monitoring of the enabler, a function for health monitoring of the enabler, a function for updating of the enabler, a function for de-activation of the enabler, or another function. Metadata can be associated with the management interface. The metadata can be defined consistent with an interface definition for the management interface and can identify one or more alternative functions for at least one of the one or more functions. A requestor can be communicatively coupled with the enabler and can request a management function via the management interface of the enabler. The requester can comprise a management process, a workflow, another enabler, another process, etc.

In some cases, the requestor can, prior to requesting the management function, read metadata associated with the management interface and determine whether the management function is available or unavailable. In such cases, requesting the management function via the management interface of the enabler can be performed in response to determining the management function is available. Further, in response to determining the management function is unavailable, the requester may identify one or more alternative functions based on the metadata and request the one or more alternative functions. Even if the management function is available, the requester may, prior to requesting the management function, determine based on the metadata whether an alternative function is available for one or more dependencies of the enabler and, in response to determining an alternative function is available for at least one dependency, request the alternative function.

Additionally or alternatively, in response to a request from the requestor, the enabler may generate an error in response to not being able to perform the management function. In such cases, the requestor can receive the error via the management interface indicating the management function cannot be performed by the enabler, read metadata associated with the enabler, select an alternative function based on the metadata, and request the alternative function. For example, the one or more alternative functions can comprise one or more of calls to a management interface of another enabler, calls to a functional interface of another enabler, a workflow, etc.

In some cases, the system may also include a metadata repository. In such cases, the metadata can be stored in the metadata repository. Additionally, the system may include a supporting enabler communicatively coupled with the enabler. The supporting enabler may provide access to the metadata repository.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary operating environment in which various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functional components of an enabler according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a system including an enabler according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical structure for metadata according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for managing an enabler and/or its dependencies according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process for managing an enabler and/or its dependencies according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary infrastructure implemented according to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form.

The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.

The term “machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wireless channels and various other mediums capable of storing, containing or carrying instruction(s) and/or data. A code segment or machine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks.

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for abstraction of a resource via an enabler and metadata. As described in the Related Applications cited above, an enabler can be defined as a reusable component that exposes capabilities from resources (e.g. other enablers, applications or services and network, OSS or BSS capabilities) via a functional interface. The exposure can be realized with an adapter architecture and layered architecture as described for example in the Related Application entitled “Factorization of Concerns to Build a SDP (Service Delivery Platform)” that allows the same component(s) to abstract different resources or composition of resources or technologies that provide a particular capability. The capabilities exposed in this way may be used to “use” or access the resource or capabilities of the resource.

An enabler may also be used to “manage” the resource. Embodiments of the present invention are directed to systematic ways to automate such management. Generally speaking, management functions can be exposed by the enabler via a management interface of the enabler. Through this interface, the enabler and/or resources or dependencies of the enabler can be managed. Management functions exposed by the management interface of the enabler can include but are not limited to provisioning of the enabler (i.e., configuration), activation of the enabler, state monitoring of the enabler (by querying or by registering/subscribing/listening), usage monitoring of the enabler (by querying or by registering/subscribing/listening, health monitoring of the enabler (by querying or by registering/subscribing/listening), updating of the enabler, de-activation of the enabler, and/or other functions.

According to one embodiment, metadata can be used to accommodate any gap in the enabler's abstraction of the resource capabilities for usage or management. That is, it is possible that the enabler is unable to manage some resources, for example, because the adapter of the enabler can't, the resource does not expose interfaces or ways to manage that resource, because policies prevent management, or because the resources are in different domains where they can't be managed for technical or governance reasons. It may therefore be impossible to completely manage the lifecycle of the enabler without also managing these resources separately. It is also possible that the enabler does not offer management interfaces to perform all the lifecycle management operation that are desired. Again this would require other ways to perform these operations. In such cases, additional information can be provided via metadata associated with the enabler and indicating how to manage the enabler and its dependencies. In other words, what the adapter, governance, or deployment allows to be managed via the enabler can be managed through the enabler's management interface and its adapter(s) to the resource(s). Management functions which are not permitted, available, exposed, etc. via the management interface can be captured in metadata associated with the enabler and indicating or identifying alternate ways to performed the management. Additional details of various embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary operating environment in which various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The system 100 can include one or more user computers 105, 110, which may be used to operate a client, whether a dedicate application, web browser, etc. The user computers 105, 110 can be general purpose personal computers (including, merely by way of example, personal computers and/or laptop computers running various versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows and/or Apple Corp.'s Macintosh operating systems) and/or workstation computers running any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX or UNIX-like operating systems (including without limitation, the variety of GNU/Linux operating systems). These user computers 105, 110 may also have any of a variety of applications, including one or more development systems, database client and/or server applications, and web browser applications. Alternatively, the user computers 105, 110 may be any other electronic device, such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone, and/or personal digital assistant, capable of communicating via a network (e.g., the network 115 described below) and/or displaying and navigating web pages or other types of electronic documents. Although the exemplary system 100 is shown with two user computers, any number of user computers may be supported.

In some embodiments, the system 100 may also include a network 115. The network may can be any type of network familiar to those skilled in the art that can support data communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, including without limitation TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, the network 115 maybe a local area network (“LAN”), such as an Ethernet network, a Token-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network; a virtual network, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”); the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”); an infra-red network; a wireless network (e.g., a network operating under any of the IEEE 802.11 suite of protocols, the Bluetooth protocol known in the art, and/or any other wireless protocol); and/or any combination of these and/or other networks such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, 3G, 2.5 G, CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, EVDO etc.

The system may also include one or more server computers 120, 125, 130 which can be general purpose computers and/or specialized server computers (including, merely by way of example, PC servers, UNIX servers, mid-range servers, mainframe computers rack-mounted servers, etc.). One or more of the servers (e.g., 130) may be dedicated to running applications, such as a business application, a web server, application server, etc. Such servers may be used to process requests from user computers 105, 110. The applications can also include any number of applications for controlling access to resources of the servers 120, 125, 130.

The web server can be running an operating system including any of those discussed above, as well as any commercially-available server operating systems. The web server can also run any of a variety of server applications and/or mid-tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database servers, Java servers, business applications, and the like. The server(s) also may be one or more computers which can be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to the user computers 105, 110. As one example, a server may execute one or more web applications. The web application may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java™, C, C# or C++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of any programming/scripting languages. The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, IBM® and the like, which can process requests from database clients running on a user computer 105, 110.

In some embodiments, an application server may create web pages dynamically for displaying on an end-user (client) system. The web pages created by the web application server may be forwarded to a user computer 105 via a web server. Similarly, the web server can receive web page requests and/or input data from a user computer and can forward the web page requests and/or input data to an application and/or a database server. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the functions described with respect to various types of servers may be performed by a single server and/or a plurality of specialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs and parameters.

The system 100 may also include one or more databases 135. The database(s) 135 may reside in a variety of locations. By way of example, a database 135 may reside on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers 105, 110, 115, 125, 130. Alternatively, it may be remote from any or all of the computers 105, 110, 115, 125, 130, and/or in communication (e.g., via the network 120) with one or more of these. In a particular set of embodiments, the database 135 may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers 105, 110, 115, 125, 130 may be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set of embodiments, the database 135 may be a relational database, such as Oracle 10g, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computer system 200, in which various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The system 200 may be used to implement any of the computer systems described above. The computer system 200 is shown comprising hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus 255. The hardware elements may include one or more central processing units (CPUs) 205, one or more input devices 210 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.), and one or more output devices 215 (e.g., a display device, a printer, etc.). The computer system 200 may also include one or more storage device 220. By way of example, storage device(s) 220 may be disk drives, optical storage devices, solid-state storage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the like.

The computer system 200 may additionally include a computer-readable storage media reader 225 a, a communications system 230 (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device, etc.), and working memory 240, which may include RAM and ROM devices as described above. In some embodiments, the computer system 200 may also include a processing acceleration unit 235, which can include a DSP, a special-purpose processor and/or the like.

The computer-readable storage media reader 225 a can further be connected to a computer-readable storage medium 225 b, together (and, optionally, in combination with storage device(s) 220) comprehensively representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing computer-readable information. The communications system 230 may permit data to be exchanged with the network 220 and/or any other computer described above with respect to the system 200.

The computer system 200 may also comprise software elements, shown as being currently located within a working memory 240, including an operating system 245 and/or other code 250, such as an application program (which may be a client application, web browser, mid-tier application, RDBMS, etc.). It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments of a computer system 200 may have numerous variations from that described above. For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed. Software of computer system 200 may include code 250 for implementing embodiments of the present invention as described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating, at a high-level, functional components of an enabler according to one embodiment of the present invention. Details of various embodiments and uses of such an enabler are described in detail in the Related Applications cited above. For example, see the Related Application entitled “Factorization of Concerns to Build a SDP (Service Delivery Platform)”. As used herein, the term enabler refers to a reusable service layer component or components that exposes capabilities from resources (e.g. other enablers, applications or services and network, OSS or BSS capabilities) via a functional interface. The exposure can be realized with an adapter architecture and layered architecture as described for example in the Related Application entitled “Factorization of Concerns to Build a SDP (Service Delivery Platform)” that allows the same component(s) to abstract different resources or composition of resources or technologies that provide a particular capability. The capabilities exposed in this way may be used to “use” or access the resource or capabilities of the resource.

As described in the Related Applications, different resources, technologies, combination of resources, etc. can be used by an enabler using different adapters. In general, an enabler 305 provides abstract/logical functions and may rely on one or multiple resources 320, which in some cases may also be other enablers, to perform these functions via one or more adapters (south bound interfaces) 315 specific to the resource(s) 320. For example, the resource(s) 320 can comprise a service or a plurality of services or other elements, e.g., network resources, gateways, servers, clients, hardware, operating system or other software, etc. The enabler 305 also provides a northbound interface 310 to expose function(s) logically and/or abstractly and can be realized in any protocol/API/technology binding, e.g. Java, WS (SOAP or REST), SIP, C, C++, C#, etc. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the enabler 305 can also provide a management interface 325 to expose/provide management of the enabler 305 and its dependencies (i.e. resources 320 that the enabler implementation manages through the adapter 315). Management functions exposed by the management interface 325 of the enabler 305 can include but are not limited to provisioning of the enabler 305 (i.e., configuration), activation of the enabler 305, state monitoring of the enabler 305, usage monitoring of the enabler 305, health monitoring of the enabler 305, updating of the enabler 305, de-activation of the enabler 305, and/or other functions. Functions for monitoring various aspects of the enabler 305, e.g., state, usage health, etc., can be implemented, for example, by management interface(s) 325 for responding to queries from other components or on a registration/subscription and notification basis in which registered/subscribed and authorized listeners are informed/notified of changes in a state of the enabler 305 through a the management interface 325.

As noted, it is possible that the enabler 305 is unable to manage some resources 320, for example, because the adapter 315 of the enabler 305 can't, the resource 320 does not expose interfaces or ways to manage that resource 320, because policies prevent management, or because the resources 320 are in different domains where they can't be managed for technical or governance reasons. It may therefore be impossible to completely manage the lifecycle of the enabler 305 without also managing these resources 320 separately. It is also possible that the enabler 305 does not offer management interfaces 325 to perform all the lifecycle management operation that are desired. Again this would require other ways to perform these operations. In such cases, additional information can be provided via metadata 330 associated with the enabler 305 and indicating how to manage the enabler 305 and its dependencies. In other words, management functions which are not permitted, available, exposed, etc. via the management interface 325 can be captured in metadata 330 associated with the enabler 305 and indicating or identifying alternate ways to performed the management function. Therefore, what the adapter 315, governance, or deployment allows to be managed via the enabler 305 can be managed through the enabler's management interface 325 and its adapter(s) 315 to the resource(s) 320 and metadata 330 can be used to accommodate any gap in the enabler's 305 abstraction of the resource 320 capabilities for usage or management.

According to one embodiment, the metadata 330 can be stored in one or more metadata repositories 335 that are associated with the enabler 305. Associating the metadata 330 with the management interface 325 can comprise compiling the metadata 330 and storing it in a repository 335 wherein it can be associated at registration, discovery, or retrieval with the management interface of the enabler 305 or enabler instance. The metadata 330 can be associated and maintained consistently with the management interface description and how it is stored or made available. This means that the metadata 330 can correctly represent changes of dependencies throughout the state of the enabler 305 and its instances, i.e., the association may be to an enabler 305 or an enabler instance (a structure of the enabler in a data model).

Requesters of the management functions of the enabler 305 or policy enforcers can be then informed of the metadata 330 associated with the enabler 305 or management interfaces 325 as described in the Related Applications cited above. For example, see the Related Applications entitled “Policy Interface Description Framework”, “Method and Apparatus for Supporting Service Enablers Via Service Request Handholding”, “Methods and Systems for Exposing Access network Capabilities Using an enabler Proxy”, and “Factorization of Concerns to Build a SDP (Service Delivery Platform)”. It should be understood that, while illustrated here as separate from the enabler 305, the metadata 330 and/or repository 335, if any, need not be separate from the enabler 305. Rather, in some cases, the metadata 330 may be maintained/stored by the enabler 305. In other cases, the metadata 330 and/or repository 335 may be separate and accessible by/with another enabler (not shown here). Various other implementations are contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the present invention. Regardless of exactly how or where it is maintained, the metadata 330 can, according to one embodiment, document missing capabilities of the management interface 325, document a recipe of what needs to be done to affect those functions, and optionally provide details or recipe (e.g. composition/BPEL) of other enablers/services/interfaces that can be used instead to affect the particular management function.

Therefore, if a resource 320 is to be managed, it can be exposed through an enabler 305 as explained above and in the Related Applications. The same is true for services that are the result of composition of other services. So for example, a Web 2.0 marketplace of services can be managed even if the services are provided by different service providers. Metadata 330 can also be combined with the intangible dependencies described in the Related Application entitled “Metadata Describing Dependencies for Composable Elements.” Metadata 330 or management interfaces 325 may also describe and/or support extensible attribute sets and schemas for the management interfaces 325.

When the enabler 305 or a resource 320 is to be managed, a requesting service, application, etc. can access and read the metadata 330 associated with that enabler 305 and determine how to affect the desired management function. For example, the requester, upon reading the metadata 330 may determine that a particular management function is not available through the management interface 325 of the enabler 305. However, the metadata 330 may indicate one or more alternative functions, workflows, processes, other enablers, etc. for performing that function(s). Therefore, the requester may then decide to implement or perform the management function according to the indications of the metadata 330. Additionally or alternatively, the requester can request a desired management function and, if the requested management function is not available through the management interface 325 of the enabler 305, the enabler 305 can return an error message, i.e., a “no-op” message, to the requester indicating the unavailability of the requested function. According to one embodiment, the error message may include or indicate the metadata 330 associated with the management interface 325 and requested function. The requester, upon receiving such an error message may then implement or perform the management function according to the indications of the metadata 330.

Stated another way, an enabler 305 can comprise a management interface 325 providing an abstraction of one or more management functions for managing the enabler 305 or dependencies of the enabler 305 such as resources 320, for example. Metadata 330 can be associated with the management interface 325. The metadata 330 can be defined consistent with an interface definition for the management interface 325 and can identify one or more alternative functions for at least one of the one or more functions. For example, the management function any one or more of a function for provisioning of the enabler 305, a function for activation of the enabler 305, a function for state monitoring of the enabler 305, a function for usage monitoring of the enabler 305, a function for health monitoring of the enabler 305, a function for updating of the enabler 305, a function for de-activation of the enabler 305, etc. The one or more alternative functions can be any one or more of calls to a management interface 325 of another enabler, calls to a functional interface, i.e., northbound interface, of another enabler, a workflow, etc. In some cases, the metadata 330 may be stored in a metadata repository 335 that can be maintained by a supporting enabler as will be described in greater detail below.

Managing such an enabler 305 and/or dependencies of the enabler 305, e.g., resources 320, can be performed by a requestor, i.e., an application, another enabler, a workflow, etc., requesting a management function via a management interface 325 of the enabler 305. For example, prior to requesting the management function, the requester may read the metadata 330 associated with the management interface 325 and make a determination as to how to perform or request the management function. For example, the requester can determine whether the management function is available or unavailable. Requesting the management function via the management interface 325 of the enabler 305 can be performed in response to determining the management function is available. In response to determining the management function is unavailable, one or more alternative functions can be identified by the requester based on the metadata 330 and the one or more alternative functions can be requested. Additionally or alternatively, the requester can make a determination based on the metadata 330 as to whether an alternative function is available for one or more dependencies of the enabler 305. In response to determining an alternative function is available for at least one dependency the requester can request the alternative function as indicated by the metadata 330.

In another exemplary use, the requestor may make a request to the enabler 305 before or without checking the metadata 330. In such cases, the enabler 305 may generate and return a “no-op” or other error message if the request is for a function or dependency of the enabler 305 that is not support. Therefore, in response to requesting the management function, the requester may receive an error via the management interface 325 indicating the management function cannot be performed by the enabler. In such cases, metadata 330 associated with the enabler 305 can be read by the requester and an alternative function can be selected and requested by the requester based on the metadata 330.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a system including an enabler according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the system 400 includes a enabler 305 as introduced above. The enabler 305 can include a northbound interface 310 that abstracts one or more functions of resources 320 as described above and provide access to the abstracted one or more functions. The enabler 305 can also include one or more adapters 315 or southbound interfaces. The adapters 315 can, for example, communicate in the protocol supported by the resources 320, e.g., SIP, HTTP, Diameter, or other Intelligent Networking (IN) protocol including but not limited to Transaction Capabilities Application Part (TCAP), Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Customized Applications for Mobile Enhanced Logic (CAMEL), etc.

As noted in the Related Applications, the enabler 305 can abstract or hide the underlying technologies of the resources 350. That is, the enabler 305 can communicate and/or interact with the resources 320 in a protocol appropriate to those resources 320 via the adapters 315 or southbound interfaces and provide access to those resources 320 in a manner abstracted from the underlying protocols or technologies of those resources 320 via the northbound interface 310. Actions of the enabler 305 and/or resources can also be controlled or affected by a management interface 325 to affect one or more management functions and/or one or more policies applied by policy execution, enforcement, and management module 435.

According to one embodiment, the enabler 300 can be implemented as part of a Service Delivery Platform (SDP) 505 such as described, for example, in the Related Application entitled “Factorization of Concerns to Build a SDP (Service Delivery Platform)” referenced above. As noted therein, the SDP 505 can include an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) 420. In such cases, the enabler 305 can be adapted to communicate with or through the ESB 420 via the northbound interfaces 305 of the enabler 300. That is, the enabler 305 can be adapted to place abstracted notifications or other information from the resources 320 and/or enabler 305 or events thereof on the ESB 420 via the northbound interface 310 and/or the management interface 325. Additionally or alternatively, the northbound interface 305 and/or management interface 325 of the enabler 305 can receive instructions and/or other information from other elements of the system 400 from the ESB 420.

For example, ESB 420 coupled with/implemented as part of Event Driven Architecture (EDA) 430 as described, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/045,220 filed Mar. 10, 2008 by Maes and entitled “Presence-Based Event Driven Architecture” the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. As noted therein the EDA 430 can also include or be coupled with an event monitor 435 and/or other application as well as 686 and Operation Support Systems/Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS) 440. In use, events or information from the resources 320 can come in from the adapters 335 and be placed on the bus/ESB 420 by the northbound interface 305 of the enabler 300. Additionally or alternatively, events or information from the resources 320 and/or from the logic of the enabler 305 can be placed on the bus/ESB 420 by the management interface 325 of the enabler 305. The events can then be distributed to a target listener (e.g., the event monitor 435 or other registered application(s) if any). In between the events may be managed, for example based on policies enforced by policy execution, enforcement, and management module 425 to order the events with a strategy, e.g., a concurrency strategy, that decides when multiple events are to be processed, who and when they are put on the bus 420, how the bus 420 processes them and how the listeners process them etc.

In summary, embodiments of the present invention provide an enabler 305 that can be resource and/or technology independent with adapters 315, wherein the adapters 315 and resources 320 support particular functions. Enabler adapters 315 can also be built to abstract resource 320 details for use in the service layer (i.e. instead of using resources 320 and/or adapters 315 to have an enabler 305 function supported, an enabler 305 can be used to expose enabler functions). The enabler 305 can be used to abstract resources 320 for management (instead of just capabilities) via the management interface 325 and metadata associated with the enabler 305 for management functions that may be unavailable through the enabler 305 for any of a variety of reasons noted above. According to one embodiment, if a requested capability or management function can not be provided through or by the enabler 305, it can be reacted to as an error by enabler 320. The error can include a pointer to the metadata (place holder in specs). The metadata can be maintained consistent with or associated/coordinated with the definition of the management interface 325 of the enabler 305. Thus, it can be changed if the resource 320 changes. The metadata can also represent composed resources/services and thus can change if the composition changes. The requestor, upon receiving such an error message, may then implement or perform the management function according to the indications of the metadata

According to another embodiment, a requester of the function of the enabler 305, such as an event monitor 435 or another application, can find the metadata in the overall system, for example, at system setup, via an out-of-band message or communication, by association with the interface or in the interface. As noted above, the metadata can provide alternate interfaces/ways/recipes to execute the functions, access the requested capability, or perform the management functions requested. For example, the enabler 305 can provide an alternative interface to manage the resource 320 or initiate a workflow (e.g. including possible steps of provisioning, replacing pieces, configuring, etc.) Interfaces then may describe with metadata also how to manage a system through the generic interface (e.g., describe a schema of information to pass or where to get that description etc.) when it can't be described with a logic function (e.g. function with extensible/discoverable attribute set). Therefore, the requestor may then decide to implement or perform the management function according to the indications of the metadata

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical structure for metadata according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the metadata 330 associated with an enabler can consist of additional information 502 about the management interface of the enabler like functional properties 505 of the management interfaces (i.e. rather than the properties of the functional/northbound interface). These functional properties 505 of the management interface can include constraints 510 on parameters of the management operations exposed through the management interfaces and/or pre and post conditions 515 related to management operations exposed through the management interfaces of the enabler. The additional information 502 about the management interface of the enabler can also include non-functional properties 520 of the management interfaces. These non-functional properties 520 of the management interfaces can include additional context information which would influence the usage of the management interfaces (e.g. time to execute, annotation of the enabler such as class of service it is usable for with particular settings, security control, etc.

The metadata 330 can also include or indicate management dependencies 525 of the enabler. The management dependencies 525 can comprise, for example, information capturing a logical flow of alternate and/or additional management operations (using other enablers (via their northbound interfaces) or using other management interfaces of other enablers) with their associated functional properties related to the enablers and the resources which should be managed consistently. The metadata 330 can also include management state 530 information for the enabler. The management state 530 information can comprise design state 535 if in a design phase, deployment state 540 if in a deployment phase, operation state 545 if in operation phase, etc. The metadata can be “associated with” the management interface description of the enabler. That association may (but does not need) be captured in the metadata.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for managing an enabler and/or its dependencies according to one embodiment of the present invention. As noted above, managing an enabler and/or dependencies of the enabler as described herein can be performed by a requester, i.e., an application, another enabler, a workflow, etc., requesting a management function via a management interface of the enabler. More specifically and as illustrated in this example, the requester may read 605 the metadata associated with the management interface and make a determination as to how to perform or request the management function. For example, the requestor can determine 610 whether the management function is available or unavailable. In response to determining 610 the management function is unavailable, an alternative indicated by the metadata may be requested 620, i.e., one or more alternative functions can be identified by the requestor based on the metadata and the one or more alternative functions can be requested. In response to determining 610 the management function is available, a further determination 615 may be made based on the metadata as to whether an alternative function is available for one or more dependencies of the enabler related to the request. In response to determining 615 an alternative function is available for at least one dependency, the requestor can request 625 the alternative function as indicated by the metadata.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process for managing an enabler and/or its dependencies according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention. As noted above, in another exemplary use, the requester may make a request 705 to the enabler before or without checking the metadata. In such cases, the enabler may generate and return a “no-op” or other error message if the request is for a function or dependency of the enabler that is not support. The requester may then determine 710 whether such an error is returned. If 710 an error message is received by the requestor, metadata associated with the enabler can be read 715 by the requester and an alternative function can be selected 720 and requested 725 by the requester based on the metadata.

As introduced above, a requester of management functions of an enabler can comprise any service, application, workflow, another enabler, etc. Similarly, dependencies of an enabler can comprise any number of services, applications, components, other enablers, etc. Thus, it is contemplated that multiple enablers providing different management functions based on embodiments of the present invention can be employed to implement an infrastructure. An exemplary infrastructure implemented in such a manner is described with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary infrastructure implemented using embodiments of the present invention. This figure uses the following terms and abbreviations: policy enforcer (PE); managing enabler; and supporting enabler (SE) which will be described below. Generally speaking, the figure shows an environment 800 implemented with and according to embodiments of the present invention. It should be noted that elements illustrated here and the functions performed thereby can be implemented internally or as separate components/systems.

The enabler management repository SE 805 is an SE that can hold the interface description of the management interface of enablers and their instances. In addition to the management interface descriptions, the enabler definition may include the description of the enabler's functional behaviour, as well as functional interface descriptions but these latter two aspects are not mandated and can reuse common UDDI models/techniques. In either case, the enabler management repository SE 805 provides a functional interface through which enablers' management interface descriptions can be stored, accessed, and manipulated.

The enabler lifecycle metadata repository SE 810 is an SE that holds the enabler lifecycle metadata for various phases of the enabler lifecycle. The enabler lifecycle metadata repository SE 810 can provide a functional interface through which the enabler lifecycle management metadata can be stored, accessed, and manipulated.

The enabler metadata coordinator SE 815 can provide the front-end to access or manage information in the enabler management repository SE 805 and enabler service lifecycle metadata repository SE 810. The enabler metadata coordinator SE 815 can act as a proxy to any management interaction of other entities (e.g. ME and other management processes/requesters) to the enabler management repository SE 805 or enabler lifecycle management metadata repository SE 810 so that appropriate association can be maintained between the enabler lifecycle management metadata and the management interface of the enabler to which it is associated.

One or more management enablers (MEs) 820 can be provided including but not limited to a provisioning management enabler, a quality/problem management enabler, a usage monitor enabler, a state monitor enabler, and/or others. A provisioning management enabler can support the fulfillment processes for enablers. For this function, it may rely on traditional resource management support systems and/or on the resource activation enabler described below. A quality/problem management enabler can support assurance processes for enablers. For this function, it may rely on traditional resource management support systems and/or on the resource and state monitor enablers described below. An enabler usage monitor can allow monitoring of the usage of enablers by querying or subscribing to usage information through the enabler management interface. It can support, for example, billing processes for enablers. For this function, it may rely on traditional billing support systems and/or on the usage monitor enabler described herein. A state monitor enabler can be an SE that monitors state or dependency updates of an enabler and uses the service lifecycle metadata coordinator enabler SE 815 to update this information in the enabler lifecycle metadata repository SE 810. The state of an enabler can be modeled as: un-configured, i.e., an enabler without a set attributes (e.g., newly created or retired enablers); configured, i.e., an enabler with a set of attributes including associated to metadata (e.g., updates, versions, etc.); activated, i.e., the enabler is available for a particular context; instantiated, i.e., the enabler is in use; rogue, i.e., there are problems when using an instantiated enabler; and/or de-activated, i.e., the enabler is unavailable in a particular context.

One or more resource management SEs 830 can be provided including but not limited to a resource activation enabler SE, resource monitor enabler SE, and/or a usage monitor enabler SE. A resource activation enabler SE can abstract the activation and/or configuration of resources. It can provide a functional interface through which a request to activate and/or configure a resource can be made and responses received. A service resource activation/configuration enabler SE can be provided to model activation or configuration of resources or services or enablers that can not be managed through the management interfaces of an enabler (e.g. because of policies, resource limitations or distribution across domains, implementation of the enabler as described above). The implementation of the resource activation/configuration enabler SE can be done case by case (e.g. via other adapters and workflows that abstract the steps to actually perform the task for the resources that are to be managed). A resource monitor enabler SE can abstract the monitoring of resources. It can provide a functional interface through which a request to monitor a resource can be made and responses received. The resource monitoring enabler SE can model monitoring (listening or querying health, usage or state) of resources or services that can not be managed through management interface of an enablers (e.g. because of policies, resource limitations or distribution across domains, implementation of the domain as described above). A usage monitor enabler SE can be a particular SE that allows monitoring of the usage of resources or enablers by querying or subscribing to usage information for the enabler.

The various enablers described here can expose various interfaces abstracting the functions performed by the enabler. For example, the various enablers can provide an enabler management interface as introduced above that can logically expose operations including but not limited to:

-   -   Provisioning of an Enabler: Setting up the settings of an         enabler.     -   Activation of an enabler: Making the enabler available for a         particular context.     -   State monitoring of an enabler: Querying the history and current         status in terms of life cycle management (for specific instances         of the enabler) and/or listening for status updates.     -   Usage monitoring of an enabler: Querying for usage metrics from         the enabler or listening for usage metrics reports or alarm         (e.g. if metrics conditions imply notifications).     -   Health and usage monitoring of an enabler: Querying for health         metrics from the enabler or listening to alarm from the enabler.     -   Update of an enabler: Modification of the setting or life cycle         management status of a enabler.     -   De-activation of an enabler: Making the enabler unavailable in a         particular context and possibly de-associating metadata—although         this may not be exposed by the management interface but may be         performed on metadata repository SE through metadata coordinator         SE.

Additionally, the MEs and SEs described with reference to FIG. 8 can provide one or more functional interfaces. For example, a functional interface of the enabler management repository SE 805 can logically exposes the following operations: Add Enabler; Modify Enabler; Delete Enabler; List Enablers; Get details on Enabler; Find Enabler; etc. In another example, a functional interface of an enabler lifecycle metadata repository SE can logically exposes operations such as get, set, modify, create, delete, list, etc on identified metadata structure elements. In yet another example, a functional interface of the enabler lifecycle metadata coordinator SE 815 can logically expose operations including but not limited to:

-   -   Extend metadata for enabler x     -   Modify metadata value for enabler x     -   Check metadata value of data element d of enabler x     -   Get information on the support entity for management operation y         on enabler x     -   Modify information on the support entity for management         operation y on enabler x     -   Etc.

It should be understood that details of embodiments of the present invention can vary between implementations without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented with Web Services Description language (WSDL), Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI), service catalogs, etc. Furthermore, the generic interfaces of the enablers can be used to manage any resource or service. Various systems can be implemented to enforce/coordinate the embodiments of the invention and/or use the interface to manage any resource of service. The enablers can expose to applications and/or 3^(rd) parties the resource or service capabilities (possibly with policy enforcement). In some cases, enablers can do out-of-band management of resources or provide alternatives to missing capabilities/functions. Various other alternatives and variations are contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

In the foregoing description, for the purposes of illustration, methods were described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different order than that described. It should also be appreciated that the methods described above may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in sequences of machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purpose processor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the methods. These machine-executable instructions may be stored on one or more machine readable mediums, such as CD-ROMs or other type of optical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readable mediums suitable for storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, the methods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.

While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the prior art. 

1. A method for managing an enabler, the method comprising: requesting a management function via a management interface of the enabler, the management interface providing an abstraction of one or more management functions for managing the enabler or dependencies of the enabler.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising prior to requesting the management function: reading metadata associated with the management interface; and determining whether the management function is available or unavailable, wherein requesting the management function via the management interface of the enabler is performed in response to determining the management function is available.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: in response to determining the management function is unavailable, identifying one or more alternative functions based on the metadata; and requesting the one or more alternative functions.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising prior to requesting the management function: determining based on the metadata whether alternative function is available for one or more dependencies of the enabler; and in response to determining an alternative function is available for at least one dependency, requesting the alternative function.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an error via the management interface indicating the management function cannot be performed by the enabler; reading metadata associated with the enabler; selecting an alternative function based on the metadata; and requesting the alternative function.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the management function is selected from a group consisting of a function for provisioning of the enabler, a function for activation of the enabler, a function for state monitoring of the enabler, a function for usage monitoring of the enabler, a function for health monitoring of the enabler, a function for updating of the enabler, a function for de-activation of the enabler.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata is defined consistent with an interface definition for the management interface and identifies one or more alternative functions for the management function.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more alternative functions are selected from a group consisting of calls to a management interface of another enabler, calls to a functional interface of another enabler, and a workflow.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata is stored in a metadata repository maintained by a supporting enabler.
 10. An enabler comprising: a management interface providing an abstraction of one or more management function for managing the enabler or dependencies of the enabler; and metadata associated with the management interface, wherein the metadata is defined consistent with an interface definition for the management interface and identifies one or more alternative functions for at least one of the one or more functions.
 11. The enabler of claim 10, wherein the management function is selected from a group consisting of a function for provisioning of the enabler, a function for activation of the enabler, a function for state monitoring of the enabler, a function for usage monitoring of the enabler, a function for health monitoring of the enabler, a function for updating of the enabler, a function for de-activation of the enabler.
 12. The enabler of claim 11, wherein the one or more alternative functions are selected from a group consisting of calls to a management interface of another enabler, calls to a functional interface of another enabler, and a workflow.
 13. The enabler of claim 10, wherein the metadata is stored in a metadata repository maintained by a supporting enabler.
 14. A system comprising: an enabler comprising a management interface providing an abstraction of one or more management function for managing the enabler or dependencies of the enabler and metadata associated with the management interface, wherein the metadata is defined consistent with an interface definition for the management interface and identifies one or more alternative functions for at least one of the one or more functions; and a requester communicatively coupled with the enabler, wherein the requester requests a management function via the management interface of the enabler.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the requestor, prior to requesting the management function, reads metadata associated with the management interface and determines whether the management function is available or unavailable, wherein requesting the management function via the management interface of the enabler is performed in response to determining the management function is available.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the requestor, in response to determining the management function is unavailable, identifies one or more alternative functions based on the metadata and requests the one or more alternative functions.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the requestor, prior to requesting the management function, determines based on the metadata whether alternative function is available for one or more dependencies of the enabler and in response to determining an alternative function is available for at least one dependency, requests the alternative function.
 18. The system of claim 14, wherein the enabler generates an error in response to not being able to perform the management function wherein the requester receives the error via the management interface indicating the management function cannot be performed by the enabler, reads metadata associated with the enabler, selects an alternative function based on the metadata, and requests the alternative function.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the management function is selected from a group consisting of a function for provisioning of the enabler, a function for activation of the enabler, a function for state monitoring of the enabler, a function for usage monitoring of the enabler, a function for health monitoring of the enabler, a function for updating of the enabler, a function for de-activation of the enabler.
 20. The system of claim 14, wherein the metadata is defined consistent with an interface definition for the management interface and identifies one or more alternative functions for the management function.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more alternative functions are selected from a group consisting of calls to a management interface of another enabler, calls to a functional interface of another enabler, and a workflow.
 22. The system of claim 14, further comprising: a supporting enabler communicatively coupled with the enabler; and a metadata repository communicatively coupled with and accessible via the supporting enabler, wherein the metadata is stored in the metadata repository.
 23. The system of claim 14, wherein the requestor is selected from a group consisting of another enabler, a management process, and a workflow. 